I used to be the type of person who couldn’t deal with Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.  Every year I used to think, "Wow the retailers are really pushing this holiday season thing".  As I’ve grown a little older, something in me has changed.  I think some sort of magical pixiedustesque rain sprinkles over me every fall.  The "holiday season" now begins with Halloween for me and continues straight through New Year’s Day.  Maybe I need something to take my mind off of the fact that it’s dark at 5:00 pm, or maybe it’s the kid in me coming through or my need to focus on the positive rather than the nightly news. 

Every year my family and I head to Disney World for the Christmas season.   This has been a tradition for my family since the early ’90s.  The first year I went during the season was to celebrate my mom graduating from college (How great is that!!).  We came home and convinced the rest of the family that it is just the most wonderful time of the year to be at Walt Disney World.  I usually go at the beginning of December to avoid the holiday rush.  It is just as magical and I make it back in time to make Christmas dinner for the extended family.   This year’s vacation will begin in just 15 days!!  At the end of my week, I’ll be attending MouseFest (www.mousefest.org) and I’ll be reporting back here LIVE, so stay tuned!

Until then, I wanted to impress you with my statistical knowledge of a Very Merry, Jolly Holiday at Walt Disney World!  (Does anyone remember the Jolly Holiday Dinner show at the Contemporary??  I miss it so much!!  For those of you who don’t, think large ballroom, turkey dinner, Disney Christmas show, so fun!!)

Did you know?

The gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian is 16 feet tall, has 600 pounds of sugar and 1,050 pounds of honey in it!  The baking and decorating time is 560 hours!

Disney World is wrapped in more than 11 miles of garland and 300,000 yards of ribbon.

The World is illuminated every holiday season by 7 million lights!

The tree at the Grand Floridian is 45 feet tall and has 60,000 miniature LED lights adorning its branches.

More than 1300 trees are decorated in the World, to make our holiday trips even more Very Merry.

I’ve had the privilege of touring Holiday Services where all the decorations are stored and made for Walt Disney World.  If you get the opportunity, take the Yuletide Fantasy Tour and see this amazing place.  Ask your vacation planner, we can book it for you!

So everyone open your eyes a little wider, and enjoy the wonder that is the holiday season at Walt Disney World!   I’ll see you there (at MouseFest) or I’ll see you here at the cafe for your vicarious pleasure.

Joanne
Joanne@MouseFanTravel.com

I used to be the type of person who couldn’t deal with Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.  Every year I used to think, "Wow the retailers are really pushing this holiday season thing".  As I’ve grown a little older, something in me has changed. < more... >